Author Topic: Saving strategies in a big city  (Read 3467 times)

TallahaseeNative

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Saving strategies in a big city
« on: February 23, 2016, 09:45:47 AM »
void
« Last Edit: June 03, 2019, 07:11:00 PM by Walkering »

RobFIRE

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Re: Saving strategies in a big city
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2016, 01:54:05 AM »
Bike, computer, declutter, buying/selling: of course.

For valuable items found (fitbit device) should you not take to local police lost property (most likely item would not be claimed and returned to you after some weeks) to give owner more of a chance to find? Clearly not necessary for small clothing items.

Not sure about the restaurant idea, eating repeatedly at the same place doesn't seem to be in the spirit of one voucher per customer?

Dicey

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Re: Saving strategies in a big city
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2016, 12:50:48 PM »
Yeah, I guess taking to the police dept. would be a better approach moving forward. My friends mentioned using craigslist, because it's a common place to list lost stuff.

The restaurant situation though, I'm not sure. I read the fine print and it didn't say anything about one voucher per person, unless it's implied. These were gift certificates and not coupons.
It's also a one-off situation. There won't always be new restaurants opening offering free gift certificates. I appreciate that you saw an opportunity and exploited it, but "exploit' is the key word here. Had you mentioned the situation to the owner of the restaurant, I doubt he would have been happy with the way you were exploiting his promotion. I don't love that you didn't think through the fact that you were probably taking advantage of a small-ish(?) business.

It's 100% A-okay to figure out savings loopholes to keep as much of your money in your pocket as possible, but it's a lesser skill to take money out of someone else's pocket, just because you can.

Dicey

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Re: Saving strategies in a big city
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2016, 02:47:51 PM »
1. You didn't mention that the restaurant was a national chain, so my comments are clearly a little off, but the thinking behind my reasoning still stands.

2. Notice the difference between the birthday freebies and the original scenario is quantity. In the new example, a lot of places are willing to give you a little something on your birthday, to entice you to sample their wares, in hopes you'll return on your own dime. Quid pro quo. The original example was more you being exploitive, IMO. More importantly, it's not likely to be repeatable and thus less likely to be a useful strategy for others to benefit from.

The point of your post was to help others, wasn't it?

Feel free to post as many other strategies as you wish, but remember that some people care about treating others fairly in life. Just because a person is racing to FI does not make it 'mustachian" for them to cheat others. NOT saying you did, but the ground around your gift card strategy felt a little spongy, which is why I called it out.